RAF Jets Take Out Targets Near IS Stronghold

British fighter jets took out an IS barracks and a vehicle near Raqqa, using a Brimstone missile in one of the attacks.

RAF jets have used Brimstone missiles to attack targets near Islamic State's Syria headquarters and in Iraq.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Tornado GR4s used the missiles to destroy a vehicle near Tabbaqah, west of Raqqa, in Syria and a terrorist supply truck south of Sinjar in Iraq, on Sunday.

The missiles, which cost £105,000 each, can hit vehicles moving at 70mph and are only used by the RAF and Saudi air force.

They detonate a tandem charge on impact to ensure penetration of armour and were used for the first time against IS targets in Syria earlier this month.

An RAF Tornado GR4 armed with Brimstone missiles

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Two days earlier, Tornado GR4s struck an IS barracks near Raqqa using two laser-guided Paveway IV bombs, also destroying one of the group's vehicles parked nearby.

British Typhoon fighter jets also provided support to Iraqi forces on the ground near Ramadi, taking out IS machine gun teams with two successful Paveway IV attacks on 13 January.

On the same day, RAF Tornados were in action in northern Iraq - using a Paveway missile to destroy a machine gunner who had opened fire on Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

Typhoons took out IS fighters, including a mortar team, as they prepared an assault on Ramadi on 14 January, while Tornados patrolling east of Mosul used a pair of Paveways to attack a mortar position and an armed pick-up truck.

Hours later, Typhoons operating in the same area bombed three buildings in a terrorist-held compound, the MoD said.